The Beverly Hillbillies
The Clampetts Go Fishing
TV Flash files “The Clampetts Go Fishing” as hour 58 of 274 in the TV Flash guide — The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) on CBS, season 2, episode 22, aired 1964-02-26, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E22: listed hour 58 of 274 in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide, hour 22 of 36 in season 2. It aired 1964-02-26 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Son of Lafe Returns” (S02E21). Next is “The Critter Doctor” (S02E23).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Drysdale wants to get the Clampetts interested in deep sea fishing. Jed has been disappointed that there's no good hunting in Beverly Hills. Drysdale and Miss Jane bring them a taxidermied trophy fish to mount on the wall. Granny tries cooking the fish. Because of Granny's fear of boats, the Clampetts go fishing on the bridge that goes over the Los Angeles River. At the bank, Drysdale tells Granny and Jed that he has chartered a boat for them. Granny's fear of boats only temporarily thwarts Drysdale's plan to take the Clampetts deep sea fishing. He wants to take them to Marineland to see the types of fish they could catch in the ocean. They want to save Drysdale the trip and go to Marineland by themselves. Thinking that they're large fishing holes, Granny wants to "catch the whale". The family is stunned when they see how big a whale really is. Granny still wants to get one. Elly wants to take a walrus home, but Jed stops her. Elly does sneak a baby seal home.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Clampetts Go Fishing sit in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide?
S02E22 is listed hour 58 of 274 — hour 22 of 36 in season 2, season 2 episode 22.
When did The Beverly Hillbillies S02E22 air?
The Clampetts Go Fishing aired 1964-02-26 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
The oil-strike-and-move premise is the whole engine, so early episodes that put the Clampetts in Beverly Hills show the joke at full strength. Buddy Ebsen's Jed is the calm center; Granny and Jethro do the folklore.
In the series
Why this series still plays
The Clampetts struck oil, moved to Beverly Hills, and turned culture clash into CBS's most ruthless ratings weapon. Buddy Ebsen's Jed, Irene Ryan's Granny, and Jethro's glorious denseness made rube-versus-elites comedy a national habit. Watch it to see how a high-concept rural sitcom can own a decade of Nielsens while critics sneer.
The joke is architectural. A poor Ozark family strikes oil, relocates to a Beverly Hills mansion, and the sitcom never needs another premise. Paul Henning's *The Beverly Hillbillies* (CBS, 1962–1971) ran nine seasons and 274 episodes on Buddy Ebsen's Jed Clampett, Irene Ryan's Granny, Donna Douglas's Elly May, and Max Baer Jr.'s Jethro — plain wisdom, mountain medicine, critters, and glorious denseness as four clean hooks. Critics sneered. Audiences did not. That split is the text.
Filed against
- Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett
Buddy Ebsen’s Jed Clampett struck oil and moved The Beverly Hillbillies into a ratings weapon — 1960s catalog rube-versus-elites, then Barnaby Jones clocking out of overalls into a PI trench with a home lab. TV Flash files him as the…
- Irene Ryan as Daisy 'Granny' Moses
Irene Ryan's Daisy 'Granny' Moses was The Beverly Hillbillies' homemade artillery — Clampetts striking oil, moving to Beverly Hills, Buddy Ebsen's Jed, Jethro's denseness, rube-versus-elites comedy as CBS's most ruthless ratings weapon.…
- Donna Douglas as Elly May Clampett
Donna Douglas made Elly May Clampett the sunniest weapon on The Beverly Hillbillies — critters, a rope, and Hill-to-Hills culture clash that CBS ran like a ratings oil strike. Jed had the drawl; Douglas had the voltage that turned…
- Max Baer Jr. as Jethro Bodine
Max Baer Jr. played Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies like denseness was a contact sport — the Clampett nephew whose glorious thickness made rube-versus-elites comedy a CBS ratings weapon in the 1960s. Oil money, Beverly Hills…